Gun mount



R. B. BEISEL Aug. 30, 1932.

GUN MOUNT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed April 10, 1928 INVENTOR. PEXB. 85551..

A TTOR.

R. B. BEISEL Aug. 30, 1932.

GUN MOUNT Original Filed April 10, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. n QexB. BE\3EL.

A TTOR Patented Aug. 30, 1932 IBEX B. BEISEL, OF TULSA, OKLAHOMA,ASSIGNOR TO CURTISS AEROPLANE & MOTOR COMPANY, INC A. CORPORATION OF NEWYORK GUN MOUNT Befi leii for abandoned application Serial No. 268,907,filed April 10, 1928. This application filed April 8, 1930. Serial No.441,35"1.

t more particularly to gun mounts for aircraft.

An object of the invention is to P o ide a gun mount for aircraft inwhich the usual adjustment of the gun carriage is obtained by foot orpedal action rather than by hand as heretofore.

A further object of the invention is to pro vide a gun mount foraircraft in which the adjusting pedals are movable both with and withrespect to the gun carriage either independently or simultaneously, themovements 111-0118 instance being such that the gun carriage iivertically adjusted and in the other instance such that it is adjustedor rotated horizontally.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an auxiliary pedalarrangement whereby the adjusting mechanism, and hence the gun carriage,can be locked and released as desired.

The advantages of a gun mount thus characterized are as follows: N handmanipula tion of the gun mount is under any circumstances required. Thegunner can, while.

seated, freely adjust the gun mount both vertically and horizontally.This is equivalent to adjusting the gun mount in elevation, and inazimuth respectively; With one continuous motion the adjusting mechanismcan be released and the gun carriage adjusted. The return of the lockmechanism into locking engagement is instantaneous and automatic themoment pressure on the lock release'pedal is removed. The adjustingpedals offer at all times a solid foot rest against which the gunnersfeet are firmly braced. It becomes unnecessary for the gunner to standerect or to exposehishead or shoulders above the top of the body of themachine. Moreover, as only a very insignificant portion of the gun mountis exposed, little or no resistance is offered thereby during flight.Such, and other advantages, result from the use of a gun mount of thecharacter herein set forth.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters denotelike or Fcorresponding parts, A

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a standard type 'of military aeroplanehaving installed therethe adjusting and for illustration, a militaryaeroplane of more or less conventional design is shown. Such aeroplaneincludes the usual fuselage or body 10, supporting surfaces 11-11,empennage 12, power plant 13, and landing gear 14. Within the bod twocockpits are provided. Said coc pits are designated respectively as 15and 16. To shield the occupant of the cockpit 16a wind shield 17 isprovided. Within the cockpit 16 the gun mount designated in its entiretyas 18 is fastened. As indicated in Figs. 3 to 5, inclusive, the gunmount 18 consists of a rotatable up-right member 19 carried at one endabove and beyond the cockpit coaming, to which extended end, the guncarriage 20 is pivotally fastened as at 21. The gun carriage 20 isprovided at its forward end with a collar 21 to which the machine gun,designated in its entirety as 22, is mounted for free swinging movementboth vertically and horizontall The upright member 19 is carried througout a substantial portion of the depth of the fuselage or body 10. Atits upper end it is mounted in a hearing 23 fastened to the fuselageframe. At its lower end it is mounted in a bearing 24 similarly fastenedto the fuselage frame. Intermediately of its ends it is mounted in abearing 25 provided at the upper end of a sleeve 26 carried along asubstantial portion of the length of the up-right member from a point'at' or near its lowerend. This sleeve 26 is non-rotatable. It has keyedthereto as at 27 a vertically slidable bevel gear 28. The-func- I tionof this gear 28 is that of a lock'rather 5 than a gear. The manner inwhich this gear- The pedals 32 are mounted tomove'not only with but alsowith respect to the arms 31. That the latter movement may be obtained,each pedal 32 is provided at its lower end with a sleeve 33 thru whichthe arms 31 are carried. The inner leg of each pedal 32,

it will be noted, extends beyond its associated sleeve 33 Such extendedportion,

designated as 34, provides in eifect a bell crank extension. Each saidextension at its forward end ispivotally fastened as at 35' to a rodconnection which, at its opposite end, is pivotally fastened as at 37 tothe. gun carriage of gun carrying arin- 20. It is by means of thisconnection 36 that the gun car riage is vertically adjusted thru therotationalmovement of the pedals 32 about the pedalarms 31 as an axis; e

The lock release mechanism, in addition to the gear 28 and gear segments29, includes an auxiliary pedal 38 for each pedal 32 and a spring 39.The auxiliary pedals 38 are pivotally fastened as at 40 to the pedals 32and have pivotally fastened thereto as at 41 links 42. At their oppositeends the links 42 are pivoted as at 43 to the arms 44 fastened to andextending off from a shaft 45 carried from one to the other of thepedals. This shaft 45 has fastened thereto a sleeve4 provided withcams47 by means of which, thru the operation of the auxiliary pedals 38,-the

gear, 28 is raised out of mesh with the gear segments 25). The workingface of each said cam47 .is described about the center of the pedal arms31 as an axis. .To release the adustingxmechanism it is only necessarythat one or the other of the. auxiliary pedals 38 be depressed. Thespring 39, which encircles the sleeve 26, and which bears at 'on anannular flange 48 extending-out from said sleeve and on the top face ofthegear 28. respectively,

acts to return the latter into meshing engagement with the gear segments29 when pressure on the pedals 38 is removed.

The gear segments 29, it will'ibe noted are fastened to the inner armsof the pedals 32 i and by their engagement with the car 28 lock thepedals 32 in that gnsition o rotational ad ustment desired. arcuate slot50 is formed in the cockpit coaming to admit of the passage othe-connection 36 therethru its opposite ends.

. with and by as well as its rotational movement with the up-rightmember 19. i

As intimated, a gun mount thus characterized may be freely manipulatedby the gunner while seated. To obtain horizontal adjustment of the gunmount it is but necessary to depress one or theother of the auxiliarypedals 38 until the cams 47 shall have raised the gear lock 28 out of.engagement with the fected either simultaneously or separately asdesired. As the gun carriage adjustment is obtained thru foot actionalone, the gunner may use both hands in manipulating the gun 22 asdesired.

While I have described my invention in detail in its present preferredembodiment, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art afterunderstanding my invention, that various changes and modifications maybe made therein without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. Iaim in the appended claims to-cover all such modifications and changes.

What I claim is: 1. A'gun mount for aircraft including a gun carriageadjustable in rectangularly opposed planes in its relation to theaircraft, and unitary foot-operated mechanism associated with and bymeans of which the gun carriage is adjusted in either or both saidplanes.

2. In combination, an aerial vehicle, a cockpit comprising a gunnerscompartment in cluded therein, a gun carriage adjustable inrectangularly opposed planes in its relation to the aircraft and inrelation to the gunners compartment, unitary foot-operated mechanismassociated with and by means of which i the gun carriage is adjusted ineither or both of said planes-with reference to said compartment, andmeans for locking said gun car-- riage in its adjusted'position fixedlyrelative to said compartment.

3.. A- gun mount 'foraircraft including a- I J gun carriage adjustablein rectangularly op-i posed planes in its relation to the aircraft, 'aunitary foot-operated mechanism associated is adjustable in either orboth sai planes, and means operable to lock said adjusting mechanism andhence the n carria e.

4. A gun mount or aircra means of which the uncarriage including an Iupright member, an adjustable gun carrying arm pivotally fastened tosaid member, foot-' operated mechanism having an axis of rotation passinthru said member, and a connection exten lng between said mechanism andsaid arm substantially parallel with said member.

5. A gun mountfor aircraft including a rotatable up-right member, a guncarrying arm movable with and adjustable in its relation to said member,an arm rigidly fastened to said member, said arm being movable with saidmember about an axis passing thru said member to rotate said gun carring arm, and mechanism carried by said rigi arm and connected to saidgun carrying arm for adjusting said last mentioned arm.

6. A gun mount for aircraft including a gun carriage rotatable andvertically adjustable in its relation to the aircraft, foot-operatedmechanism by means of which said carriage is both rotated and verticallyadjusted, and foot-operated mechanism by means of which said firstmentioned mechanism is locked and unlocked in its relation to saidcarriage.

7. A gun mount for aircraft including a gun carriage both rotatably andvertically adjustable in its relation to the aircraft, a foot pedalmovable both with and with respect to said gun carriage to respectivelyrotate and vertically adjust it as aforesaid, mechanism operable to lockand release said pedal, and an auxiliary foot pedal operable to actuatesaid lock mechanism.

8. In combination, an aerial vehicle, a

cockpit comprising a gunners compartment included therein, a guncarriage adjustable in its relation to sald aircraft and to saidcockpit, a support for the gun carriage, footoperated mechanismassociated with and by means of which the gun carriage is adjusted, andmeans operable in its relation to said support to lock and release saidmechanism. 9. A gun mount for aircraftcomprising an upright, a guncarrying arm associated with the upper part of said upright and arrangedfor rotational movement about the longitudinal axis of said upright andalso for rotational movement about a normally horizontal axissubstantially perpendicular to the first named axis, an operating armas- 9 sociated with a lower part of said upright and also arranged forrotational movement about the longitudinal axis of said upright and forrotational movement about a normally horizontal axis perpendicularthereto,means for moving said operating arm about said two axes, andmeans for transmitting the motion of the operating arm to the guncarrying arm to cause correspondmg movements thereof.

10. A gun mount for aircraft comprising a normally upright member, a guncarrying arm carried thereby and mounted for rotational movement about anormall horizontal axis substantiallyp'erpendicu ar to the uprightmember, an operating arm also carried by the u right member which arm isalso mounted For rotational movement about a normally, horizontal axissubstantially erpendicular to the upright member an is maintainedsubstantially parallel to the gun carrying arm, a link connecting thetwo arms, and means for moving said operating arm to adjust the positionof the gun carrying arm. I

11. A gunmount for aircraft including a gun carriage adjustable inelevation and in azimuth with respect to the aircraft, and unitary footoperated means horizontally and vertically rotatable to adjust theazimuh and elevation respectively of said gun carriage.

12. A gun mount for aircraft including a gun carriage adjustable inelevation and in azimuth with respect to the aircraft, unitary footoperated means horizontally and vertically rotatable to adjust theazimuth and elevation respectively of said gun carriage, and unitarylocking means adapted to lock said gun carriage in any position ofadjustment.

13. A gun mount for aircraft including a gun carriage adjustable inelevation and in azimuth with respect to the aircraft, unitary footoperated means horizontally and vertically rotatable to adjust theazimuth and elevation respectively of said gun carriage, unitary lockingmeans adapted to lock said gun carriage in any position of adjustment,and an operating device for said lock? ing means associated with saidadjusting means.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

REX B. BEISEL.

